Make a Quick and Simple Bird Blind

Our kids love to watch birds visiting our feeders, but more often than not their exuberant presence at the windows spook all but the most fearless of our feathered friends. We've been considering building a permanent bird blind in our backyard, but then we stumbled upon this simple makeshift solution.

Rosina, of the blog Rosy ~ Posy, put together this quick bird blind with the help of her kids, a large piece of cardboard, packing tape, and an Exacto knife. Spy holes were cut out at the appropriate heights and swinging flaps were attached to open and close the eye holes. I love how the cardboard screen also doubles as a bulletin board for displaying bird drawings and potential identification charts.

This screen was used for positioning against an inside window, but one could easily take the concept outdoors. Cut some peepholes out of an over-sized appliance box placed in close proximity to your feeders, and let your kids go to town disguising it with branches, leaves, or a painted landscape. Gosh, now that I'm thinking about it, an afternoon spent camouflaging a cardboard bird blind with the kids sounds like a pretty fun time on its own.